I bought my Ericsson A1018s only to use for a couple of months, as it’s vital I have a mobile phone as I commonly receive important calls. And plus I would be lost without one as I don’t have a landline phone. I bought mine for £29.99 after spending £40 at Safeway’s.
First impressions of this phone were generally good, as it seemed generally tough and reliable. I was very happy with it until I upgraded about a month later to a Nokia 402.
What’s it got to offer?
Value for Money. *** 3 star.
As this phone is now only £29.99 new on vodafone all calls. It is very good value for money especially if you only want to use it for only a few months. The value for money may not seem as good as you think, as they don’t last very long.
Reliability. * 1 star!
This is the worst point to be made of this phone yet one of the most important. After I finished using this phone it was passed onto my nephew. He used the phone for a matter of weeks before it bu**er** up. Well suppose you want to know what went wrong, various problems actually such as Battery power decreasing rapidly which
should not happen until its at least 18 months old. The phone required a new battery, which should not be needed at such early age with such little use.
Another problem with the handset was it temporarily loosing signal and then it would pick up again at some very strange places such as an underground! Very strange handset! Another problem was the sim card reader failed numerous times which is quite a UN common problem as far as my knowledge.
Buttons *** 3 star.
The buttons are very soft and wriggle about in their places, which partly makes the phone feel cheap. There are 15 buttons on the keypad, which are:
Yes.
This is used for selecting menus and sending text messages and phone calls. This button has a blue phone on.
No.
This button is used for totally backing up out of the menu and is also used for whats known as ‘ replacing the handset’. This button has a red phone with a line through.
Clr.
This button is the clear button, which can be used as a back up and can also be used for deleting 1 number at a time where as the No button will delete all of what you have dialled.
Down Left arrow.
The down arrow can be used for moving the cursor when dialling a number or most frequently used when sending a text message.
Right/Up arrow.
This button does the same as the down arrow but will move the cursor to the right instead of the left.
The writing and pictures last longer than the phone. The buttons feel a little cheap but are quite in destructible. The buttons are the only thing that makes the phone feel cheap.
Reception Quality. ** 2 star *** 3 star on a friends.
The phones reception quality when picked up is to a reasonable quality but because I had the problem I did I can only give 2 stars. I used another Ericsson A1018s, which did not belong to me, the reception quality on that was good for the price but no rival for any Nokia.
Charge. ** 2 star.
When the phone was bought new a full 36-hour charge was recommended and done. In the phones early days (the first month!). I got about 2.5 days charge. A full charge would last about 3-3.5 hours. A belt catch is as standard on all A1018s’s. The clip is very strong and durable.
Durability. ***** 5 star.
This phone is very durable and can take a lot of bashing and battering. My phone had been dropped of 6ft ladders onto concrete and had only a minor scratching and the battery to be put back on as it had fallen off, but that was it!
Size. * 1 star
This phone is one of if not the biggest phone available so this should NOT be bought as a fashion accessory. This phone covers exactly from L to D in length across the keyboard and ABOUT 4 cm in width.
Call List. **** 4 star.
The call list is a function, which stores all the calls you have made received and missed. The Call List holds unto 30 received call numbers and 30 outgoing. When you exceed the 30 numbers the oldest is deleted. The list can be manually deleted at any time to protect privacy. I have given 4 stars as not many of even the latest of phones can store up to 30 numbers in the call list. There is also a call counter and a counter, which adds up all the time you have been on the phone.
Sms Messages/ Text Messages
This phone is short/text/Sms message compatible. You can send and receive and even send text messages, which will cost 12p on Vodafone pay as you go and 10P on Orange pay as you go. To find this phone on Orange is very unlikely.
Melodies.
The phone has space to receive 1 composed melody, which means you can download a tone. You can have anything thing from a classical piece to the number 1 chart song. The phone has 12 set ringing tones, which cannot be edited or deleted.
Clock/ Alarm.
These are pretty much self-explanatories. The alarm is quite loud and powerful enough to wake me up, but only if I have had plenty of sleep. DO NOT RELY ON THIS ALARM TO GET TO WORK ON TIME ETC.
Front Fascias
These can be bought in all different colours. As this phone is quite dated now they are becoming quite hard to find. The fascias only cover around the buttons and around the screen. They can be removed and replaced easily. When I bought my phone I had 2 fascias on the box 1 light blue and 1 deep purple which both of them had Vodafone splashed on the front.
Overall.
I cannot recommend this phone after my experiences. Do not think if the phone looks or has had minimum use, it does not guarantee anything. If you don’t want to spend on style of features and don’t want to take out a loan buy a Motorola M3788e, which is a much better rival of the A1018s’s.
Extras to add.
The difference between the older GA628 are mine has the dual band facility, the alarm and clock and the composable ringing tones
All accessories for the GA268 can be used on the A1018s inc in car charger, leather case, hands free and the same mains charger.
Thanks for taking time to read my opinion. Sam :0) . Sam Williams ©
![Elekratek Ericsson A1018s Car Kit [ KIT_UNI ]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/76649158.jpg)
![Elekratek Ericsson A1018s Battery High Capacity [ BTH_E62 ]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/76782645.jpg)
![Elekratek Ericsson A1018s Hands free. [ WAT_E10 ]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/76783062.jpg)
01.06.2003 20:16
I had one of these a couple of years ago, not through choice I may add. It was provided by work. How far we've come.
02.02.2002 23:24
Excellent opinion! Thanks for sharing this information with us. I've been looking into purchasing a mobile phone, and an Ericcson is one that I had been considering. Now, I think I'll just get the Nokia that was also another consideration. Ellen
01.02.2002 16:07
I use to have this phone....Couldn't have written an op like that on it though. Very informative.